Well, I'm only about a month late... but here goes a post on my first half-marathon, the Fort Worth Cowtown.
I figured out that I might like running about a year ago, and then I found out I was pregnant with little boy. When he was six weeks old I was ready to try it again! By the time he was 8 or 10 weeks old I was running 3 times a week and on the path to training for something. I settled on Cowtown on 2/27/11 since I do not perform well in the heat, and this would be a race run in the bitter cold for sure, right?! Not to mention all my long run training would be in the cold as well.
I trained my little rear off and was very diligent to my schedule. I could run 10 minute miles with ease and this seemed to be my long run "pace." I had a bad experience running a 15K due to a tormenting side stitch, but I brushed it off as my long runs went back to normal after this blip.
Fast forward to 2/27/11 and we have 65-75 degree weather, 80% humidity, 25 mph winds. Ugh. This was not my plan! Sure enough, the heat was a tail kicker for me. By mile 2 or 3 I was already way too hot and fighting a mild side stitch again. My running buddy Amy was feeling fine and we lost each other at a water station which was probably for the best; I was holding her back.
13.1 miles of pure misery... that is pretty much how I would have to describe my first half marathon. Internal mental battles, external physical battles. Around mile 4 I began run/walking quite a bit which I found discouraging since I had wanted to run the whole way through. I dumped two cups of cold water on my head at every water station. I turned off my fancy borrowed Garmin running watch at mile 9. It was no longer about hitting a certain pace... it was just about finishing. I felt so weak... hot...defeated during the entire race. Check out my miserable pictures!
Twice I saw a girl with a sign: "His power is made perfect in my weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9" I can't tell you how much seeing this sign lifted me up and kept me going. It really felt like my race theme. I did cross the finish at 2:23 and was actually shocked by the overall time - with all the walking I had done I did not think there was any way I would beat 2:30.
So what to do after all that misery? Next half-marathon: 5/1/11.
you did it!! and that is what matters. An really great that you are "getting back up on that horse"! The run/walk method is the way I've done all my long runs. I credit it to the fact that I didn't experience injuries while running those long distances, and for actually keeping me running! Hooray for you!!
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